4th May, 2011
The movie Hotel Rwanda is a film based on the story of the Rwanda genocide that took place in the year 1994. During this time, it is estimated that more than 800,000 people comprising mostly of Tutsi tribe members were killed by their Hutu neighbours. The setting is at a time when Rwanda is experiencing economic depression and political problems marked by the death of the country’s political leader. The Hutu extremists believe that their neighbours, the Tutsi minority are to blame for the misfortunes that are befalling them. They embark on killing sprees, getting rid of the Tutsi population.
The movie depicts a corrupt yet so humane Hotel owner, Mr. Paul Rusesabagina as the savior of the Tutsi and the neglected Hutus. This man uses his might to bribe the Hutu soldiers so that he can save the refugees from both camps.
As the movie progresses, the kind hotel owner manages to save several refugees by using bribes to keep the Hutu soldiers at bay, away from the hotel which he uses as the hide out for the Tutsi and Hutu refugees
Following the bloodshed, Rusesabagina manages to survive along with his wife and three children. Most of the refugees he sheltered also manage to survive the ordeal.
From this movie, the creators portray the central theme of animosity that drives the Hutu community berserk. In just a hundred days, human beings finish each other with machetes and knifes. Out of hatred, the Hutu community reduces the population of Rwanda and the entire economy to nothingness.
Discrimination is portrayed by both the Hutu extremists and the external community who comes to save the Rwanda situation: ethnic discrimination marks the centre of the carnage with Hutu the populace intending to kill all the Tutsi tribe members. The Hutus look at the Tutsi people as the enemies and the major cause for their misfortunes.
Another act of discrimination is displayed by the United Nations peace keepers who do not value the lives of the Rwanda people. They come in to save only the foreigners living the local people to perish in their own misfortunes. All the white people are saved while the black population is left to fight as a result of racial discrimination. The western countries including the United States of America and the Belgian nation neglect their role as peace builders. They assume that Rwandan nation can fight for itself as more people die.
What is brought out so clearly in the movie is that labeling and categorizing people in a way that they think they are different from each other is a dangerous tool that can finish a population in days. The Tutsi people are labeled a witches, and rats that must be wiped out of the face of Rwanda. This is instigated by the Rwandese media.
From this movie, what comes out as a distinctive characteristic is the fact that the Tutsi community is seen as taller people. With a little pointed nose as compared to their not so elegant Hutu country men. The Tutsi population is loved by the Belgians, who ultimately render power to them after independence, because of their looks.
The Tutsi population is also categorized as being more elegant and better looking causing their fellow Rwandese to device ways of finishing them off so that they may have no competitors.
Despite all the fighting, the outside world watches in silence. The Rwandese are left to God’s mercy.
Work Cited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZprAN0o9oAI retrieved on 4th may, 2011.
